​Election Principles

Pursuant to Article 7 of the 2013 Constitution and Article 1 of the Law on Election of deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils, the election of deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils is conducted according to four principles: universal suffrage, equality, direct election, and secret ballot.

The principle of universal suffrage is one of the basic principles of the election regime. According to this principle, all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, gender, social class, beliefs, religion, educational level or occupation, who are full 18 years of age or older have the right to vote and who are full 21 years of age or older have the right to stand for election of deputies to the National Assembly or People's Councils according to the provisions of law (except for those who have been deprived of the right to vote under a legally effective court judgment or decision or those who were sentenced to death are awaiting execution, those who are serving prison sentences but are not entitled to suspended sentences, those who have lost their civil act capacity). This principle demonstrates the publicity, broad democracy, requires a guarantee for citizens to exercise their right to vote and stand for election.

Equality is an important principle throughout the electoral process, from making the list of voters to determining the election results. This principle is aimed at ensuring objectivity and impartiality so that all citizens have the same ability to participate in election and stand for election; all discrimination and stigma in any form is strictly prohibited. The principle of equality in election is reflected in the following points: Each citizen is only allowed to register name on the list of voters in his or her place of residence. Each person is only allowed to register name in the list of candidates in 01 constituency for National Assembly deputies or 01 constituency for People's Council deputies belonging to 01 administrative unit at the corresponding level. Each voter can only cast 01 ballot for the National Assembly deputies and 01 ballot for the People's Council deputies at each level. The ballot value of all voters is the same without distinction.

The principle of equality requires a rational allocation of the structure, composition and number of people nominated to be candidates for the election of deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels, the number of deputies elected in each locality, ensuring the representativeness of areas, regions, localities and social classes; ethnic minorities and women with a reasonable proportion of representation in the National Assembly and People's Councils.

Direct election means that voters directly go to the polling stations and cast their ballots in the ballot box to choose people who have enough trust in the state authority. Voters may not ask others to vote for, vote on behalf of, or vote by mail. In case voters cannot write their own ballots, they may ask others to write for them, but they must vote themselves; the substitute writer must ensure the confidentiality of the voters' ballots. If a voter is unable to cast his/her own ballot because of a disability, he/she may ask someone else to cast in the ballot box.

In case a voter is sick, old, or disabled, unable to come to the polling station, the Election Group will bring the extra ballot box and ballot to the voter's accommodation or treatment place so that the voter can receive his/her ballot and carry out the election. For voters who are being held in temporary detention, who are serving the measure of sending to compulsory education establishments or compulsory detoxification establishments, but the detention camps or compulsory education establishments, compulsory detoxification establishment do not organize their own polling stations or voter who is being temporarily kept in the custody, the Election Groups brings extra ballot boxes and ballots to detention camps, detention houses, compulsory education establishments, compulsory detoxification establishments for voters to receive their ballots and conduct the election.

The principle of secret ballot guarantees voters the freedom to choose the ones they trust without being impacted by external conditions and factors. Accordingly, the people that voters elect and do not elect are guaranteed confidentiality. Voters write ballots in a private area, no one can see, including members of the Election Group; no one knows and interferes with the writing of the voter's ballot. Voters themselves cast their ballots in the ballot box.

Election Rules

Voting starts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (19:00) on the same day. Depending on the local situation, the Election Group may decide to start voting earlier but not before 5 a.m. or end later but not later than 9 p.m. (21:00) on the same day.

When voting, voters must present their Voter ID Card.

Each voter has the right to cast one ballot for National Assembly deputies and one ballot for People's Council deputies corresponding to each level of People's Council that voters are elected.

Voters must go to vote by themselves, not ask people to vote for them; when receiving the ballot, the voter must present the Voter ID card.

If a voter does not vote for anyone in the ballot, he/she shall cross-out by drawing a line through the first and last name of the person he/she does not vote for (strikethrough the row of candidate's first and last name); not circling; not marking on the ballot; not writing more, adding names of people outside the list of candidates on the ballot; not letting the number of people elected exceed the number of elected delegates assigned to the constituency or crossing out all the names of the candidates in the ballot; not using ballots without the stamp of the Election Group.

When voters write ballots, no one can see, including members of the Election Group; if the ballot is written incorrectly, the voter has the right to change another ballot.

Voting must be conducted continuously on Election Day. In case of unexpected events disrupting the voting, the Election Group must immediately seal the ballot box and documents directly related to the election, promptly report it to the Election Board, and at the same time take necessary measures to continue voting.

Voting Rules

In order for the election to be successful, to ensure the democracy and legitimacy of the election, and to ensure order and safety, especially on voting day, organizations in charge of election and all citizens must strictly abide by the Law on Election of deputies to the National Assembly and People's Councils and other relevant legal documents. In addition, when coming to vote, everyone must follow the rules of the polling station prescribed by the National Election Council.

The rules of polling booth are posted by the Election Group at the polling station. Specifically: Must strictly abide by the principles and order of voting. Voters must queue in turn to cast their ballots, give priority to the elderly, people with disabilities and pregnant women; Must maintain security, order and safety at the polling station; Do not campaign at the polling station in any form; Do not bring weapons, explosives, flammable objects, etc. into the polling station, polling booth. Those who are not on duty are not allowed to enter the polling booth.

Members of election organizations, those in charge of the election service must wear badges according to the form prescribed by the Provincial Election Committee; members of the Election Group are responsible for guiding voters to vote and answering voters' questions. When the voter finishes voting, the Election Group is responsible for stamping "Voted" on the front of the Voter ID Card. Voter ID card is valid for one vote only.

Those who use tricks of deception, bribery or coercion to obstruct citizens' voting, violate regulations on election campaigning; those in charge of election work who forge documents, cheat votes, or use other tricks to falsify election results or violate other provisions of the law on election, depending on the nature and seriousness of their violations, they shall be disciplined, administratively sanctioned or prosecuted for criminal liability.

Reported by Doan Trang - Translated by Nguyen Trang